


Family Ties

by AlyssAlenko



Series: The Life and Times of Odessa and Alistair [4]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Apologies, Cheese, Cousins, Dueling, F/M, Family, Fever, Implied Relationships, Implied Sexual Content, Kids, Love, dual long swords, misbegotten child, ritual child, rooftop gawking, sword and shield combat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 20:07:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7859392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlyssAlenko/pseuds/AlyssAlenko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>King Alistair shows up at Skyhold at the behest of his wife, uncomfortable about seeing the Inquisitor again after the way they'd spoken in Redcliffe. Coming face to face with her again, he realizes something. While in Skyhold Odessa and Alistair run into Morrigan--the reason they came in the first place, much to her chagrin. They run into Cullen once more, and Odessa, though rusty wants to duel him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family Ties

Alistair stood in the doorway of the study watching Odessa; she had papers strewn all over the desk, their youngest triplet—the one who looked exactly like him—sat on her lap. She was always writing letters...keeping in contact with everyone that had helped them defeat the Blight. Cailan leaned backwards, her head on her mother’s shoulder—she’d had a fever for the past two days and all she’d wanted was to be with Odessa; ten years old and she still loved being with her mother when she was sick. Odessa stopped writing for a moment, lifted Cailan’s dirty blond bangs and placed a hand on her forehead, she sighed and kissed their daughter’s cheek—she was still feverish, but at least the nausea had subsided thanks to the potion Odessa had made for her that morning.

“Momma…” Cailan groaned.

“Hush, baby. Just rest.” Odessa whispered, wrapping her arms around her and rocking her back and forth.

“Daddy, is Cailan feeling better?” A voice said by his elbow.

He looked down into a miniature version of his wife’s face—he was terrified of what would happen when their eldest was older because she looked exactly like her mother who’d been breaking hearts since she was fifteen—though she did her best to make them turn out like their father. Alyss and their only boy and middle child—a perfect mash-up of both his parents—stood slightly behind him, Bryce clutching a large blue ball in his hands. Alistair knelt to bring both of their faces level with his own.

“She’s still feverish, but that’s it. She’s not ready to play quite yet.” He explained.

“Oh, okay.” Bryce sighed, sadly.

This always happened when one of them was sick: the other two always felt bad playing without their third; they’d always done everything together—one of the perks of being triplets. He wished he’d had something like that when he was little. Odessa suddenly appeared in the doorway of the study, holding a sleeping Cailan in her arms, three pairs of eyes turned to stare at her, making her smile.

“Cailan’s fever just broke.” Odessa sighed in relief. “She needs to rest, but she’ll be better tomorrow. I just got a raven from Leliana—I have to go to Skyhold immediately.”

Alistair gazed at her—she’d been spending so much time in the study lately, writing letters, reading letters, researching grey wardens and trying to figure out how to end the calling, but one word from Leliana, and she was ready set it all down and run off to Skyhold. He cocked his head to one side as all three of them accompanied her to the triplets’ room in order to tuck Cailan into bed. Alyss and Bryce shrugged and left their parents alone with the sleeping Cailan—they felt bad playing without her, but they knew their parents were going to get lovey-dovey and they didn’t want to be around for it.

“You’re leaving?” He asked, standing behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

He kissed the back of her neck.

“I have to—she says Morrigan...and... her...son...are there now. I never should have asked that of you; you two hated each other! I’m sorry! I wasn’t afraid of dying...I was afraid of leaving you, she gave me a chance and I took it, damning the consequences. How could I condemn a child to that?” Odessa turned finally and buried her face in his neck. “I have to see them...I have to apologize.”

“I may have hated it at the beginning, but now I have you _and_ the triplets—I couldn’t be happier; if you had died, I’d probably be some obnoxious drunk because I lost the love of my life. It’s not ideal, but in all honesty, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’d like to come with you when you go—you know I hate to be away from you.”

Her body sagged into his. He stroked her arm—how was it this woman always carried an immense weight on her shoulders? Alistair gently guided her from the triplet’s room, down the hall to their own, bolting the door behind them and pushing her backwards onto their canopy bed, she giggled and beckoned him forward, her pale green eyes staring up at him seductively from under her thick flame-orange lashes. She supposed she could head out to Skyhold the next day—she could even take her kids with them that way and wouldn’t have to worry about Cailan the whole time she was gone.

“I love you.” Odessa whispered.

“I love you too.” Alistair replied, kissing her.

 

“Are there any visiting dignitaries I should watch out for?” Victoria asked, leaning over Josephine’s desk.

She glanced up startled from the paperwork she was putting into nice neat stacks on her desk, and saw Inquisitor Trevelyan leaning against the wall next to her, arms crossed across her chest, purple-pink eyes glinting in the firelight. Sometimes Josephine wondered how she moved so quietly, but it was a nice change to Cullen and Cassandra stomping by on a mission—and after the incident in the Winter Palace, they seemed to have a lot to say. Cullen at least seemed happier as of late.

“Just the King and Queen of Fereldan, and their triplets.” Josephine replied. “He’s not quite like you described him after your encounter in Redcliffe…King Alistair seems remarkably laid back.”

Victoria’s eyes lit up. “Odessa is here?”

“Yes? You know the Hero of Fereldan?”

“Don’t most of us? Dagna, Sera, Cullen, Leliana, and Morrigan, but I know her better than most actually.”

A smirk crossed her face—Josephine had been much too involved with her family’s affairs and the backlash from Halamshiral, and probably hadn’t done her research into the Trevelyan family tree. It was the one secret she didn’t throw around, she wanted to get where she was going without throwing the name of the Hero of Fereldan around. She uncrossed her arms and leaned forward.

“How?”

“Odessa Theirin is my cousin.”

Josephine’s eyes went wide. “I’m sorry, Inquisitor…but what?”

Victoria chuckled. “I don’t like throwing my history around, but I guess I can make an exception—though I’m sure Leliana has had a hunch about my family since she met me. There were two noble sisters; Eleanor Mac Eanraig, and her junior by three years: Luciana Mac Eanraig, we’ll leave their two brothers out of this tale—Eleanor fell in love with and married a young nobleman named Bryce Cousland, while Luciana fell in love with Cedric Trevelyan. Eleanor and Bryce had two kids; Fergus and Odessa, while Luciana had three; Veronica, Vanessa, and Victoria. Odessa and I skipped a lot of family functions though…we felt constricted—plus I’m sure Odessa was trying to avoid all the young noble lords, having slept with most if not all of them.”

“Thanks for the tour, Lels—I’m so sorry the triplets broke that vase, they’re little terrors sometimes.” A voice said just beyond the door. “I tried so hard to make them turn out like Alistair.”

Leliana laughed as the door opened revealing her, a man with dirty blonde hair and amber-brown eyes, as well as an all too familiar redhead with piercing pale green eyes wrapped around him. Odessa’s eyes swept the room, landing on her raven haired cousin making her grin and extricate herself from around her husband and launch herself into the room. Victoria smiled back and met her halfway—Alistair frowned…there was something his wife hadn’t told him: now that he was face to face with the Inquisitor again, he realized how much they looked alike. In fact, the only difference between their faces was the color of their hair and eyes: Victoria’s black hair was cut just under her chin just like Odessa’s flame red hair, while their eyes were the exact same shape and size Victoria’s were lavender around the pupil and deep pink at the edges—the eyes Alistair loved though, were pale green.

“How do you like Skyhold?” Josephine asked.

“Maker’s breath it’s fabulous…the giant nugs in the stables were definitely my favorite part; you’ve definitely done well for yourself, cousin.” Odessa giggled.

“Desi…the Inquisitor is your cousin?!?!” Alistair spluttered.

Odessa turned, as Leliana and Josephine chuckled quietly, remembering that there were other people in the room besides her and her cousin. She crossed back to Alistair and kissed his cheek before wrapping her arms around one of his…Victoria hoped one day she and Cullen would be as happy and affectionate as Odessa and Alistair were in public; one could tell just by looking at them how in love they were.

“You two haven’t been properly introduced: Alistair this is Tori; Tori this is Alistair.”

“It’s good to meet you, officially, your Highness…where are the triplets? I’m dying to meet them in person.” Victoria laughed.

“After they broke a vase, Leliana led them to the garden to play tag—Cailan had a fever for three days and didn’t get to play with Alyss and Bryce so they’ve been trying to make up for lost time for the past week.” Odessa sighed.

“I can take you there.” Victoria offered.

“We’ll leave you be, Inquisitor.” Josephine bowed her head quickly.

“It was so good to see you both again.” Leliana added, hugging both Odessa and Alistair in turn before nodding at Victoria. “Inquisitor.”

“Oh it won’t be the last you see of me this visit, Lels.” Odessa winked.

Leliana rolled her eyes, as she ushered the trio out of Josephine’s office before entering the war room to figure out where to deploy her agents next—Tori was taking a much needed break. She walked beside her cousin, the two women talking animatedly about what had happened in the past few years. Victoria was eight years Odessa’s junior, but she’d always looked up to her—except in one detail: her cousin used to be ridiculously slutty; she honestly hadn’t expected her to ever settle down let alone fall in love, however being proved wrong was a welcome feeling. Alistair’s arm snuck around Odessa’s waist pulling her close. Odessa and Victoria both smiled.

“Hey, before we head to the garden, there’s someone you should meet.” Victoria said suddenly.

“I’ve already run into Dagna—Maker was she happy to see me, and Sera I remember her from Denerim—she can definitely talk in circles…Leliana took me almost everywhere, I think the only place I didn’t end up was the garden and your commander’s office.”

“She wouldn’t let me take a cheese wheel from the kitchen.” Alistair sighed.

Victoria cocked her head to one side. “I will personally make sure you get a wheel of cheese, your highness.”

“Please, it’s Alistair.” He grinned.

“Did you meet Cassandra? I’m sure she’d want your autograph.”

“I didn’t, though I’d be happy to—Cullen.” Odessa stopped.

Victoria was holding open the door to Cullen’s office. Odessa and Cullen’s gazes had met across the room, and both looked shocked to see the other—Alistair looked uncomfortable, and all of their expressions morphed into confusion, but Odessa was the first to break out of it, before approaching Cullen and sticking out her hand for him to shake; he took it briefly before glancing at Victoria. He’d told her about his past, but he hadn’t told her that the Hero of Fereldan had been a part of it…how much did she know? Odessa was way too good with faces to forget his, even Alistair recognized him, and remembered what Cullen had asked them to do when they’d found him in his magical prison in the circle tower.

“It’s been a long time.” Alistair muttered, looking away.

“How have you been holding up?” Odessa’s voice was soft. “It’s been ten years…I hope some of your scars have healed—”

“It’s been rough—what happened at the Fereldan Circle tower has never actually left me. I was in that cage for weeks, they tried to break me; I thought I was going to die in there, or give in—I wasn’t sure how much longer my Templar training was going to hold me. Then you showed up—a complete optimist, and didn’t heed my request to destroy all the mages because you didn’t think they could all be abominations…” Cullen said, leaning on his desk for support.

Victoria watched him—he’d told her about the abominations, but he hadn’t told her that he’d wanted to destroy all the mages on the off chance that they’d become abominations. She didn’t think any less of him—he’d been through so much in his life, and she respected the man he’d become, the one who was trying not to let his past define his life, but didn’t want that to ever happen to anyone again. A lot of people died in that tower. Odessa crossed her arms over her chest, and lounged against the wall. She didn’t blame him—she didn’t agree with him, but she didn’t blame him.

“They weren’t.” She whispered. “Irving taught them well.”

“I know that now. I said some horrible things to your party that day, and I’m sorry.” He sighed.

“Cullen, I don’t need an apology. I completely understood where you were coming from…so did Wynne, so did Alistair, and so did Leliana. There was a chance you were right, and then I’d be standing here apologizing to you. But not every mage thought Uldred was right, and all they needed was someone to believe in them—not condemn them for powers they never asked for.” She clasped him on the arm—a gesture of friendship. “You’re a good man, Cullen Rutherford—make sure you stay that way.”

Cullen visibly relaxed and took her hand in his, shaking it vigorously.

“Well that makes my introduction completely superfluous, cousin.” Victoria chuckled.

“Not completely—congratulations you two, you’re perfect together.” Odessa was already heading for the door.

“WHAT?!?!” Cullen cried out.

“Desi, what do you mean?” Victoria choked.

“It’s obvious you two are lovers—you guys look at each other the way that Alistair and I look at each other, but if my intuition is correct, it’s fairly new; you still don’t know how to act in public, and you’re trying to keep it on the down-low. Correct me if I’m wrong.”

Victoria stared at her cousin, her eyes wide in confusion…even Alistair was surprised, but he’d learned ten years ago not to question his wife. Everyone in the room was blushing, as she shrugged and opened the door to his office, but at least Victoria didn’t feel as awkward kissing Cullen goodbye, if everyone in the room already knew; she kissed his cheek before leading Odessa and Alistair to the walkway above the garden, where the three of them leaned on the low wall, watching the triplets playing tag together…with a black haired boy their age. Odessa nearly fainted.

“Is that—?”

Victoria followed her line of sight. “That’s Morrigan’s son, Keiran.”

Alistair tensed. Odessa closed her eyes, and lightly bit the knuckle of the first finger of her right hand—Maker give her strength; she’d rushed out as soon as she could to apologize to Morrigan and her son, Keiran, but now that she was actually here, she wasn’t sure what to do. Seeing him now, made the realization of what she had to do crystal clear; she squared her shoulders and descended the stairs, making her way over to Morrigan with Alistair in tow. The moment she saw them; she froze—they shouldn’t have been able to find her here! She’d asked Odessa not to look for her, and as far as she knew she hadn’t, but here she was, dragging that idiot husband of hers behind her, Keiran and the triplets had stopped playing tag and stood gaping at the scene playing before them. Odessa threw her arms around her and Morrigan stood still in surprise.

“I’m sorry. Thank you. Forgive me.” Odessa’s words tumbled out in a rush, spilling over each other.

“‘Tis naught to forgive. I asked you to do it—he’s a good child, though plagued by odd dreams and whispers, he’s normal.” Morrigan replied.

“May I talk to him?” Her voice was quiet.

Morrigan nodded and motioned Keiran over which made Odessa cringe slightly as she came face to face with the little boy—he had Alistair’s eyes but that was it…why had she asked him to do that for her? She’d been selfish and now saw the biggest mistake she’d made in her life staring back at her through her husband’s amber-brown colored eyes as she knelt down in front of him and took both of his hands in her own; she owed this little boy her life. She kissed his forehead quickly.

“You may not know this, but you’re the reason I’m standing here today—all of this…” Odessa motioned at herself and the triplets. “…is possible because of you. So I just want to say thank you, and I’m so sorry.”

Words couldn’t convey how truly sorry she was so she drew him into a hug. As confused as he was, Keiran wrapped his arms around her shoulders as Odessa started crying—Victoria, Alistair, Alyss, Bryce, Cailan and Morrigan could only watch the tragic scene unfolding in front of them. The triplets and Victoria didn’t understand; Morrigan had only told the Inquisitor that without the Hero of Fereldan her son would not exist but she couldn’t quite wrap her head around the how and it wasn’t like either of them had been very forthcoming with the information she craved, and the triplets couldn’t figure out why their mother was crying on their new friend. Alistair watched the boy sadly; he was just as much to blame for this child’s creation…it never should have happened, but what was done was done—but it wasn’t like he could come out and say that he was sorry, because he knew Morrigan had not told Keiran who his father was or why he wasn’t around.

“Okay…that’s enough of that.” Odessa wiped her tears and hugged the boy one last time. “I’m sorry to do that to you.”

“It’s all right.” Keiran replied, smiling at her. “Mother says you’re the reason she has me.”

Odessa smiled and ruffled Kieran’s hair affectionately, before standing up and sending him over to his mother for a minute and motioning Victoria and the triplets to come to her. It had been hard seeing Keiran, that was for sure, but she would’ve felt worse if she hadn’t—she still felt horrible, considering Morrigan had told her that the life they made could hardly be called a child after he inherited Dumat’s soul…maybe he would have turned out like this Corypheus Victoria was hunting, but he looked happy and healthy; but why exactly had that happened? She been researching the calling, and Corypheus had come up a couple times because the Grey Wardens had locked him up for a thousand years, unsure as to why he was basically immortal; Odessa assumed Corypheus had developed the archdemon’s ability to be able to jump from blighted creature to blighted creature after knowing firsthand that Dumat’s soul had jumped into Keiran when in his mother’s belly, instead of her—but Keiran, and the triplets, obviously weren’t blighted…so why had Morrigan’s solution worked at all? There were still so many things she didn’t understand—when she did, Leliana and Victoria would be the first to know about her findings.

“Tori, these are my kids: Alyss, Bryce, and Cailan—kids, this is momma’s cousin Victoria.”

Alyss and Cailan curtsied as Bryce bowed to Victoria, their manners were amazing—it was hard to believe these well-behaved children were Odessa’s. She smiled and knelt down to make her face level with theirs examining the three of them carefully; Alyss looked exactly like Odessa and it was slightly unnerving: chin length flame-red hair framing a perfect heart shaped face and piercing pale green almond shaped eyes watched her, Bryce was a perfect mashup of both his parents: short styled strawberry blonde hair and hazel almond shaped eyes that seemed to laugh, while Cailan looked like her father: dirty blonde chin length hair framing a heart-shaped face, and soft amber-brown eyes that laughed and sparkled, just like Alistair’s. Victoria smiled—they were adorable.

“It’s nice to meet you!” The three of them said in complete unison.

“I’m glad to meet the three of you as well.” Victoria replied, ruffling their hair in turn. “How long are you staying? Skyhold could use more children—I just realized how much you liven up the place.”

“Just a day or two.” Alistair answered.

“If you really want more children around, you should have some of your own.” Odessa winked making Victoria choke.

She and Cullen were nowhere near ready for a step like that.

 

“You there! That’s a shield in your hand—block with it!” Cullen ordered while training the recruits.

Almost all the girls were watching him from the roof of the armory—Victoria, Odessa, Cassandra, Vivienne, Josephine, Leliana, and Scout Harding; he wasn’t aware he’d drawn in such a crowd. Odessa stretched lazily. Alistair was putting the triplets to bed in one of the guest rooms Victoria had prepared for them, most likely telling them five stories about her adventures before they were sufficiently tired, just like always, but she wasn’t content just watching anymore. In one deft motion, she reached out and pulled Cassandra’s sword out of the scabbard on her belt; all eyes turned to her in surprise.

“Can I borrow this?” She asked.

Casandra nodded slowly. “Of course, your highness.”

Leliana chuckled as Odessa took a running leap off the roof, flipped, and landed kneeling on one knee on the ground startling the three recruits near her and glancing up. Leliana knew what was about to happen, and she was dying to see how ten years without picking up a sword and three kids later, Odessa did in a combat scenario—especially against their esteemed Commander. She used her wrist to rotate the sword over her head as she stood up, testing the weight, before approaching a nearby soldier and holding out her hand for his weapon as well…he handed it over shakily.

Cullen arched an eyebrow, before chuckling. If the Hero of Fereldan could instill fear in the soldiers just by leaping off a building and subsequently holding two broadswords, they obviously needed to train harder. Or so he thought until, Odessa stepped forward whipping the two broadswords through the air at such a high speed they were practically invisible to the eye as she twisted and danced across the grounds. She stopped and dropped into a fighting stance in front of him, both swords at the ready.

“Care to take me on, Commander?” She smirked.

“If I said no, I’d never hear the end of it.” Cullen glanced up at the audience on the roof.

“This is rather exciting, isn’t it?” Josephine leaned towards Vivienne and whispered.

“Indeed.” Vivienne replied.

“I just hope she doesn’t leave our dear Commander too beaten up.” Leliana giggled.

Everyone backed as far out as they could to give the two of them space, as Cullen hefted his shield higher. When they’d last met in Fereldan’s circle tower Odessa had still fought with a broadsword in her right hand, and a dagger in her left—he had no idea when she’d evolved to two longswords, but it looked like she’d been born with them in her hands with how she handled them. He took a deep breath. Was he really about to take on The Hero of Fereldan, The slayer of the Archdemon and the Mother, with nothing but a sword and shield? Whether he won or lost, at least it was good training for him, and thus for the soldiers.

He squared his shoulders; golden eyes stared into pale green.

“Not even going to kiss your girl for luck?” She whispered, a teasing glint in her eye.

Cullen flushed red as he glanced up at Victoria, she had both of her hands clasped over her mouth—she was afraid; was this really something for her to worry about? There was no way Odessa would actually hurt him. He was distracted for only a second, but that moment was all she needed to gain the upper hand; she was a rogue, and therefore, not afraid to fight dirty. A dull thud brought his attention back to the matter at hand; she had smacked his shield with the hilt of her sword, but he was unsure when she’d closed the distance in between them.

“That’s a dirty trick.” He told her swinging at her.

She parried his attack easily. “I could’ve disarmed you in an instant while you were distracted by my cousin, but I didn’t…I also never said I would fight fair.”

There was a clang, as their swords met each other mid –strike. He winced as she poked him playfully around his shield with the other sword not locked into combat. It didn’t hurt, but he could tell she was just toying with him; he used the shield to push her back and gain a foothold, but she was too quick and slashed under the shield with her right sword, the left sword blocking his from touching her. He’d never been so evenly matched with someone before and he actually liked the challenge. There was an onslaught from Odessa’s blades and he barely had time to block let alone parry. She spun, and brought one blade over her head and then down towards his, and Cullen knelt slightly bringing the shield up for protection; her second sword jabbed teasingly at his chestplate and they both could barely contain their laughter.

His sword slashed across her dragon scale armor—the same one Wade had made for her while they were Denerim during the blight; she always made sure to wear it whenever they were travelling, just in case they ran into trouble on the way—making her jump back in surprise. It was the first hit he’d landed, but it wasn’t going to be the last. Cullen finally had her on the defensive, and he planned to make the most of it. He twisted the shield and hooked it behind one sword, and slashed again. While she parried, the tip of his sword grazed her shoulder.

“Commander, if you can refrain from slashing my wife’s clothes to pieces, I’d very much appreciate it.” Alistair stood leisurely against the wall of the armory, arms folded across his chest.

“I think my armor’s taken worse than this, dear husband.” Odessa laughed, dropping the sword Cullen had behind his shield, to take her hand back.

He’d never seen someone willingly disarm themselves to get out of the shield hold, and his surprise gave her an opening he hadn’t intended. She knocked the sword out of his hand, swept her leg under his, and as he fell, she picked up her other sword and crossed the two blades over his neck where he lay on the ground. He was flat on his back, and pleasantly surprised he’d been bested. But what else had he expected from Queen Cousland?

He was definitely going to feel this in the morning…

Odessa transferred both swords to her left hand, and held out her right to help him up. “That was fun…thanks for indulging me.”

“It was nice, I actually learned a lot.” He replied, grasping her hand and letting her pull him to his feet. “This will definitely help when we have to face down some Red Templar Shadows, I’ll have to add it into the training.”

“Do you ever stop working?” Alistair asked coming over and wrapping his arms around Odessa’s waist.

“Sometimes…” Cullen blushed slightly.

“Sex may also be construed as work…” Odessa leaned forward and whispered as she winked, knowingly. “I’m sure you both use it as a break, but it’s very _hard_ and _sweaty_ work.”

He was suddenly very hot under the collar.


End file.
